1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to an endoscopic sample taker for in particular cartilage material.
2. Description of the Related Art
Such a sample taker is described in the German utility model 1 855 179. It consists of a hollow shank with an actuation rod axially adjustable therein, of a scoop pivotably arranged at the distal end of the hollow shank and of a scissor-like handle arranged at the proximal end of the hollow shank. This handle comprises a stationary grip part which is rigidly fastened on the hollow shank, and a movable grip part which is pivotably connected to the unmovable grip part and engages the proximal end of the actuation rod. By actuating the movable grip part the scoop by way of the actuation rod is pivoted with respect to the hollow shank so that by way of pivoting forward and back the scoop, cartilage tissue, in particular of human joints, may be released by way of abrading. The abraded cartilage particles are removed from the body by rinsing out and are complicated and difficult to extract from the rinsing fluid in order to cultivate new and reimplantable cartilage mass from this. Furthermore it has proven to be advantageous to remove the desired cartilage particles with the scoop alone from the joint or from another diseased cartilage region of a patient because the abraded cartilage particles on withdrawing the sample taker from the body cavity concerned are again to a great extent lost. A further disadvantage of this known sample taker lies in the fact that the scoop for the abrading procedure must be set considerably transversely and thus on account of its construction and for carrying out its function it requires considerable space in the body cavity of the joint or likewise.
Furthermore there are known biopsy forceps with one or two pivotable, hollow jaw parts for the secure removal of tissue samples. The jaw parts are located at the distal end of the hollow shank on whose proximal end there is provided a handle for actuating the jaw parts. These forceps are suitable essentially only for removing soft tissue and not for cartilage tissue or likewise, since this is considerably harder. Furthermore these jaw parts for carrying out their function also require much space because they must be spread apart transverse to the longitudinal direction of the hollow shank.